This is Toyota's third large-scale Takata-related recall in five months. In November, the firm recalled 1.6-million vehicles worldwide.

Image: AFP / Kazuhiro Nogi

US authorities in 2014 exposed the Takata airbag defect, which has since resulted in a series of massive recalls concerning at least 100-million units worldwide from multiple manufacturers.

About 20 people have died in accidents linked to the defect while the number of wounded is near 300.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the Takata matter concerns 34-million vehicles and 46-million airbags in the United States but this could rise to 70-million by the end of 2019.

Founded in 1933, Takata went of business in June 2017 because of the crisis. The company was finally acquired last April for $1.6-billion by the equipment maker Key Safety Systems, with the resulting entity renamed Joyson Safety Systems.